John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Those involved in construction were seeking to have it expanded into their industry. This is a win-win situation.

Before the debate on this Bill concludes, I ask the Minister of State to re-examine the proposal from the motor industry in respect of a swappage scheme. Again, this proposal would have presented the Government with a win-win scenario. Obviously, it would also have been a win-win situation for the motor industry. It would have increased the level of car sales and given rise to job creation. In addition, it would have brought in huge amounts of money to the Exchequer in the form of excise, VAT and other forms of taxation. The Minister of State should consider the proposal to which I refer. I read a newspaper report yesterday in which the chairman and managing director of Ford Ireland, Mr. Eddie Murphy, stated that he is quite confident that there will be a swappage scheme in 2015. Why not launch the scheme in 2014 and give the motor industry a break in order that jobs might be created and money brought into the Exchequer? I ask the Minister of State to give consideration to this matter.

I welcome the home improvement tax credit, which will certainly help the building industry. However, one in four of those people currently on the live register is a former construction worker. A significant proportion of these individuals do not require retraining and if the building industry received a boost, then we would certainly see an increase in the number of people going to work. A couple of weeks ago I raised with the Minister of State the point that 20,000 couples get married each year in Ireland. If 10,000 of them bought or built houses, this would provide a major boost to the building industry. The problem we face at present is that the banks will not give adequate mortgages to couples that have reasonable incomes. We need to return to the 80-20 mortgage arrangement that existed prior to the boom, whereby the banks supplied 80% of the finance and those buying or building houses were obliged to supply the other 20%. When we moved to a position where people could obtain 100% plus mortgages, major problems arose. The banks should be encouraged to re-examine the position with regard to mortgage lending in order that people might have the opportunity to buy or build their own homes. If this happens, there would be substantial improvement in the position of the building industry and an increase in job creation.

The budget is generally unfair but there are some good aspects to it. The two issues which must be reconsidered are those which relate to the car swappage scheme proposed by the motor industry and the one-parent tax credit. I welcome the fact that the Minister for Finance has already committed to re-examining the position with regard to the later.

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